Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 27 text:

-t LS

Page 26 text:

It hasn't been easy for the new buildings either. Indeed, in some ways the young buildings are the most pathetic victims of the hard times. They never knew the pride of mahogany bannisters, the airi- ness of large rooms, or the warm comfort of solid walls. They were born poor, cramped, cold and odd- ly weak and vulnerable. The Young Orchards, for example, seem at first glance to be arrogant and cocky in their challenge to all aesthetic value. As one gets to know them better, one sees how weak they really are; how quickly their naked, concrete stairs wear down, how delicate their plumbing is, how quickly the newness wears off their tough, unbeautiful rugs and their graceless furniture. One cannot dis- like the Young Orchards, one can only pity them. They are sickly children doomed to an early death.

Page 28 text:

24 The new Pembroke dorms are almost winning in their eagerness to please. They wear their oddly colored enamel tiles as hopefully as a child who has gotten into its mother's make-up. As if they were aware that their effort at prettiness has failed, they hide behind a shell of fortress-like walls. In an attempt at conciliation with the enemy eye, they offer on their Thayer St. side, an assortment of shops. They hope, it seems, to lure the eye away from their awkward, vulnerable exteriors and into their earnest little hearts. It has been a hard few years for buildings. The Green has fared much better. Trees, it is true, have died of Dutch Elm Disease in spite of the best in modern medical care. They have been replaced, however, by a new generation of graceful, young trees who promise future splendor. Flowers now join the flowering trees and bushes in the annual exuberant tribute to spring. An expensive and not altogether unpleasant bit of sculpture has established itself on the Green. And U.H.? U.H. is un- changed. It is a calm and confident old veteran. It wears its historic plaques like medals of endurance. It has outlived many generations of buildings. So calm is it, that its outward demeanor betrays not one trace of an undignified, if understandable, impatience to outlive this present architec- tural generation.